


A Shot In The Dark

by justme133



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie POV, M/M, Mild cussing, Other, Reddie, richie is being a goofball like always, sassy/snarky eddie, seriously he's super sassy in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-09-30 15:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17226701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justme133/pseuds/justme133
Summary: When something happens that changes the way things are viewed, can anything be done to make sure you find your way through?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> May be some mistakes, but I knew if I didn't post it now, I never would.

We had all been goofing off, fucking around, like we always did. So honestly, anything that happened really shouldn’t have surprised us. You’d think we know better by now.

 

But no, apparently we fucking don’t.

 

Bev had been showing us how she had perfected a front flip that she didn’t need her hands to balance with. Really , it was quite amazing to watch her flip herself without using the balance her hands could give her.

 

So of course, Richie being  _ Richie _ , meant that he had to try.

 

“I can do that  _ easily _ ,” he boasted, wiping his glasses on his shirt smugly.

 

“Yeah right,” Stan muttered, watching Richie stretch his arms above his head. Bev just came to sit next to me, and waited. I could see Mike and Bill standing on one side of him, and Ben, the other. Ready to catch him when he envitabley fucked up. Which he would. Because he was  _ Richie and he was a fucking idiot.  _ **_Let me make sure you understand this._ **

 

So, what this led to was Richie deciding to try to do the flip. Without using his hands.

 

He flipped. He fucking did it. And then he missed his landing and and landed on his back, his head smacking hard on to the concrete. 

 

I sucked in a hiss of breath and ran to his side - I was the only one with any type of medical training (and really, I could apply some antibiotic cream and a bandaid, but whatever), and let my eyes roam over his face, which was scrunched up in pain. 

 

But then this  _ fucking idiot _ began to laugh! He laughed hsyterically, and me and the rest of the group exchanged annoyed looks at each other as he opened his eyes.

 

“Holy fuck, my head hurts,” he muttered, scrunching his eyes up again. “Aw Eddie-Spaghetti, were you worried about lil ol’ me?” he asked me, and I just shoved myself up and away from him. I watched the others help him up and just sigh.

 

“You really could’ve fucked yourself up Trashmouth. You’re lucky it’s probably just a bruise on the back of your hard head. There’s no blood.” Richie just grinned as he leaned on Bev’s shoulder, who shoved him off.

 

“He could have a concussion,” Ben pointed out, but I just grimaced. 

 

“If we were only lucky enough.”

 

“Aw don’t be like that my spaghetti baby. You know you love me!” Richie crooned, lurching towards me. “I love you you know.” He went to kiss my cheek, but I caught his hand.

 

“Nice try Trashmouth. Get your ass inside.”

 

“Oooh, does Eddie-kins want to play doctor?” he asked me, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I just shook it off and looked into his eyes.

 

“I want to make sure we don’t have to take your gangly ass to the hospital. Go sit on the couch.”

 

“Sir yes sir,” Richie said, mock saluting me as he wobbled into Bill’s house. We would all be staying here for a while, having a midnight-movie-marathon while Bill’s parents were gone, so he might as well get comfy so I could check on him and we could start the movie.

 

…

 

I checked out the back of his head, feeling a bump, but no blood. All good there. He grinned at me, teeth bared and lips pulled back wide.

 

“I don’t know if you’re trying to be charming, but you look like a psychopath,” I muttered as I iced the back of his head.

 

“I’m fine ya know. Don’t need Mama Eddie taking care of me. But I can take care of you baby if you’d like it,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows again. 

 

I just snorted ( _ not one to admit I liked when he called me baby, but yeah, I’d never give him the pleasure of knowing that) _ and moved the ice bag.

 

“We’ll leave a lamp on so you can focus a bit better, but I think you’ll be fine.”

 

“My hero,” he said, now batting his eyelashes at me. I just groaned and sat next to him, his arm slinging over my shoulders as Bill began the movie.

 

…

 

I guess we had all fallen asleep eventually - it had been an eventful day after all. Usually I wake up about 2 in the morning or so for an aspirin and some water, but that wasn’t woke me up tonight.

 

What woke me up, and everyone else, was the scream.

 

It was a scream filled with pain, and fear -  _ a flashback of yellow eyes and large teeth haunted me for a second -  _ but then I saw light come on and Richie on the floor, looking freaked out.

 

“Richie what is it?” I was closest to him, having fallen asleep by him on the couch, so I slid down next to him. He turned his head towards me, but his eyes couldn’t seem to focus as they shifted.

 

“Eds?” None of the snark was there, none of the flirtiness, none of the humor. His voice was small, filled with fear.

 

“I’m right here.” He reached up a shaky hand and tried to reach for me. Everyone sat around us, silent. I gripped his hand and directed it towards my face, helping him sense he seemed to be confused - had the bump to the head done more damage than I had thought?

 

“Eddie? Are you… are you there?” His voice as so soft, so unlike the loud obnoxious Richie voice I knew so well.

 

What was going on? He finally found my cheek, and his fingers curled along by face. His hands were shaking.

 

“Rich, I’m right here. Was it a bad dream? We’re still at Bill’s house, nothing happened.”

 

“I can’t see anything. I can feel my glasses on my face, but I can’t… I can’t see you.”

 

Now I couldn’t breath. We were all up and moving in a flurry of limbs reaching for shoes, keys, and then we were piling up into Mike’s grandpa’s van that he had borrowed for the night. He drove way too fast, Richie holding onto me and Stan, Bev’s hands on his shoulders, to get us to the hospital. We guided him to a wheelchair - we knew it was bad when he didn’t fight us to walk on his own - and then, after what felt like forever, Richie was whisked to the back, the rest of us stranded in the waiting room.

 

For now, with an inhale of my aspirator, all I, all any of us could do, was wait.

 


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the visit to the ER...

I sat there for what felt like hours, my aspirator gripped tightly in my hands. And then a nurse walked out, rubbing her eyes.

 

“Family of Richard Tozier?” I shot to my feet,  the rest of our friends following me, some of them waking up from their sleeps in the cramped waiting room chairs. The nurse stared at us, not amused. “None of you  _ children _ thought to call his parents?” They way she spit out the word ‘children’, like we were something nasty she found on her floor, made my heart hurt. What did she have against us? “Where is his parents?”

 

“They’re out of town on a cruise, and he’s been staying with me. I called them, but they said they won’t reach land for 3 more days,” I said, my voice shaking a bit. I didn’t like this woman - she reminded me too much of my mother. 

 

“And you are? His parents need to be here.”

 

“Eddie Kaspbrak, ma’am. And Richie is 17, he doesn’t technically need them here.” Now I sounded serious, because I know more medical knowledge than my friends, and maybe would even want to be a doctor someday - I know he didn’t need his parents.

 

Unless there was something seriously wrong?

 

She sighed, sounding annoyed and tired - it had to be nearing morning, hadn’t it? The windows were still dark, but we had been in here for what seemed like hours.

 

“Listen kid, I’ve been heading towards a 15-hour shift, and getting your friend taken care of is last on my list for tonight before shift change.. Where are your parents? I need to talk to an adult.”

 

“I’m 18,” Mike said, stepping forward - with his height and his build, he could easily pass for 18, when he was just shy of 17 himself. “I drove us all here. You can see my license if you want.” And apparently Mike was a hell of a liar, because she just stared at him.

 

“Fine. I need you,” she said, pointing at Mike, “and you,” she said, pointing at me, “to come with me. We have some details to take care of.”

 

…

 

We were led into the back of the ER, into a small room, where Richie was resting. There was a white fabric bandage wrapped around his head, and an IV in his arm. I felt my legs go weak, and sunk into a chair in the room. Mike was silent as the nurse grabbed a folder from the end of the bed and turned to face him.

 

“So, Mr. Tozier here has what we dub ‘post-traumatic visual loss’, which means-”

 

“He’s gone blind,” I say, not looking away from Richie, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

 

“A neurologist has been by to see him, and yes, that is what has seemed to happen. But from what we can tell so far, it’s only temporary. His vision should return, but we don’t know how long it will be for the trauma that he got from when he fell.” I just nod and let her continue on talking to Mike. “I need you to sign these forms stating that he has been seen and treated, and that we will be sending him into the care of a legal adult,” she said, indicating where Mike was to sign. He scribbled a signature and she flipped the page. “Now, sign here stating you have received this follow-up appointment information we have here, stating he will see the neurologist again in a week if his vision does not improve...”

 

I just drone her out and focus on Richie,who had began to stir a bit. His head turned from side to side, and I heard what I thought was a soft whimper, but I wasn’t sure.

 

“Hey Trashmouth, you’re okay,” I say reassuringly, watching his head turn towards me.

 

“Eds?”

 

“I’m right here,” I say, not allowing my hand to reach out for him. “You’re gonna be okay.”

 

“Can we go home yet?” I felt a slight twinge at the thought that my home was his home, thats what he meant, and it brought panic and a sense of awe to my heart.

 

“Soon. Mike’s gonna bust you out of here.” I could see Mike signing something else and talking to the nurse, who was handing him a bag of something, probably medication or something else for Richie.

 

“Ol’ Mikey’s gonna save the day huh?” Richie said, his voice taking on a hint of a bad mafia twang. I find myself smiling for the first time in hours.

 

“Yeah, he’s got it taken care of.” Before Richie could replly, the nurse stepped forward.

 

“Okay Mr. Tozier, it’s time to get you out of here.” She washed her hands, snapped on a pair of gloves, and grabbed some gauze and tape. “Time to take that IV out.”

 

“Oi Sharron, you know how to sweet talk a fella, doncha?” he said in a bad Irish voice. I saw the nurse crack a smile before she pulled the IV out, making him let out a ‘yip’ as she slipped the gauze over the place where it had been. “You’re too good to me, my dear,” he said, and she just snorted as she looked at us.

 

“Let me go get his discharge papers, and you kids can get out here.’

 

…

 

Richie was quiet as we drove back home. Hell, we all were. I had Mike drop us off at my house, and I helped him into my room. I let him sleep in my bed that night, and I slept in the bundle of sheets on my floor.

 

This would be a long week.

 

…

 

I woke up to the sound of Richie running into the wall, and then laughing at himself.

 

He was taking this much better than I anticipated. I was about to get up to help him, when I felt him plop down on top of me.

 

“Get off of me you heavy idiot,” I grumble, and he laughs as he feels around for my face, finally splaying his hand right on my face, covering my mouth and making me splutter, which caused him to laugh.

 

“Babe, if you wanted me on top of you, you could’ve asked.” I groan and push him off. Seriously, he was obnoxious, how could I ever… I shake off the thought and sigh.

 

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t be moving without someone with you.”

 

“I just had to use the can,” he said, snuggling down into the blankets with me. “And… I didn’t want to be alone.” I look at him, his eyes wide - no bandage, no glasses, just his wide brown eyes, trying to look at me but not being able to quite meet mine.

 

“You’re not alone. We’re all here with you.”

 

“What did you tell my parents?” 

 

“That you had gotten hurt, but were okay. They didn’t seem very suprised.” Richie laughed and reached a hand out to my face again. 

 

“I’m always doing something stupid.”

 

“That you are Trashmouth.” I feel his thumb trace down my nose, across my cheek, and then a swift sweep over my bottom lip before he moves his hand to my hair, ruffling it playfully and ruining what could be almost counted as a “moment”.

 

“You’re so sweet, talkin’ to me like that.” I groan and hit him with a pillow - gently, since he did just get out of the ER - and he laughed before he swatted it away. “No fair, I can’t see!” he whined, and then went to me with his pillow. I was about to retaliate when I heard a door open down the hall. We both grow quiet as we listen to my mom pad down the hall and into the bathroom. In a few minutes, we hear her go back to her room.

 

“Is she gone?” Richie asks me, and I nod before I stop myself.

 

“Yeah, she’s going back to sleep. We should too.” I see him nod and lay down next to me. “You can have the bed if you want…”

 

“I just .... I want to stay right here and just… I don’t want to think about ... “ 

 

“Go to sleep Rich. I’m right here.” He nods and closes his eyes, and I watch him until he’s asleep again, light snores signaling he had drifted off. I close my own eyes, and will myself to sleep.

 

…

  
  



End file.
